No snowfall leads to improved weather conditions

Weather improved in the Kashmir Valley on Wednesday after three days as there was no rain and snowfall even as the night temperature stayed below the freezing point in most parts of the region.

The high altitude areas of Jammu and Kashmir experienced snowfall since December 21, the day the 'Chillai-Kalan', the harshest 40-day winter period, started. But no fresh rains or snowfall was reported from any part of the Valley on Wednesday.

Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, recorded a minimum temperature of 0.6° Celsius, same as the previous night, an official of the meteorological department said.

The famous ski-resort of Gulmarg, where most of the tourists flocked to celebrate Christmas, was the coldest place in the state with a low of -9.3° Celsius on Wednesday as compared to the -9.2° Celsius recorder a night earlier.

The mercury at Pahalgam hill resort, which serves as a base camp during the annual Amarnath yatra, settled at a low of -1.4° Celsius, an increase of over one degree from Tuesday night's -3.0° Celsius.Qazigund, the gateway town to Kashmir Valley, recorded a low of 0.2° Celsius as against the 0.4° Celsius recorded a night earlier.

Kokernag, in south Kashmir, which recorded a low of -3.5° Celsius the previous night, registered a low of -3.6 ° Celsius last night.

Kupwara, in north Kashmir, recorded a minimum of -1.1° Celsius as compared to the 0.3° Celsius recorded on Tuesday night.

The night temperature in Leh, in the frontier region of Ladakh, increased by over two degrees to settle at a low of -6.3° Celsius as against -8.9° Celsius the previous night, whereas nearby Kargil town registered a minimum of -6.8° Celsius, the official said.

The MeT department has said the weather in the Valley would mainly remain dry for the next 24 hours.